The Golden Rule

Sermon preached by Fr. Nicholas Manikas on Sunday, October 4, 2015

Aristides, a greek pagan philosopher, in defending the Christians during the persecutions of Hadrian the emperor of Rome in the 2nd Century, said these words. He said, "Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows. They save orphans from those who would hurt them. If a Christian person has something he gives to the person who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians invite them to come to their home and consider them a brother or a sister. If they see a stranger, Christians take them home. If they see someone who is ill, someone who is in prison, they go and visit them. If they hear that one of them is in great tribulation, they will give that person all that he or she needs. These Christians are a new kind of people. They seem to be filled with the spirit of God." These are words of a greek pagan philosopher.

In today's Gospel, we heard the words of our Lord Jesus who said, "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you." These words have been heard hundreds of times, fairly trite, pretty much a cliché. Let's take another look at the Golden Rule today.

As we know, there are many rules and regulations today. There are laws to protect us and laws to protect our property. There are city, state, and federal laws. Some people think that we have too many laws. Sometimes we complain about the laws, but where would we be if we did not have laws to protect us and our property. The Golden Rule is one law that is above all other laws. If we could only learn to live by the Golden Rule given to us by the Lord Jesus, this world of ours would become Heaven a lot sooner. Crime would be abolished.